The Greek's Long-Lost Son (13 page)

Stella climbed inside and sat opposite Theo. He sat
back, studying her features. She saw nothing but love in those dark eyes.

“Rachel just phoned me. I’ve been told Nikos has brought a lawsuit against you and you have to appear in court tomorrow. Is it true?”

She thought he paled. “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I wanted to put the past behind us.”

“I don’t understand my brother. There’s something really wrong with him.”

“Let me worry about it.”

“How can you be so calm? Were you planning to go to court without me?”

“Yes. I don’t want you there.”

“I’ve just told you I’ll marry you. You think I’d let you walk into a courtroom alone after what we’ve been through in the last six years?”

“You can’t come, Stella. I won’t let you. The court session shouldn’t take long. I’ll be back soon enough.”

Stella decided not to argue with him. After he left for court, she’d take Ari to Dax’s house and slip into the courtroom. Theo wouldn’t be able to do anything about it then.

“All right.”

He kissed her hard on the mouth. “I’ll go in and get Ari now.”

“Third district court is now in session. The Most Honorable Judge Antonias Christopheles presiding.”

“You may be seated,” the judge said, looking out at the crowd assembled.

Besides Theo’s entire family, including Hecktor, half of the closed-session courtroom was filled with wit
nesses Nestor had lined up. The other half of the room was conspicuously empty. Nikos sat at the table with his attorney, but just as the judge began to speak, Stella slipped inside the back and sat down next to Stasio.

Theo hadn’t wanted her anywhere near here, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it now.

“There are several charges laid before the court this Wednesday, the eighteenth of June by Nikos Athas against Theo Pantheras for unduly manipulating and coercing Stella Athas against her will. Mr. Pantheras, in turn, has laid countercharges against Nikos Athas.

“The first is to ascertain if Nikos Athas intended to murder Theo Pantheras on July 6, six years ago.

“The second is to discover if he set fire to the Pantheras Taverna in Paloukia on the night of July 1.

“The third is to discover if he caused an accident to Spiro Pantheras while he was riding his motor scooter the night of June 27.

“The fourth is to learn if he threatened the lives of the Pantheras family on repeated occasions by telephone calls from June 2 until July 6.”

“The fifth is to learn if he tried to bribe Theo Pantheras with ten thousand dollars to leave his sister alone.”

With each count, Theo watched Stella’s head drop a little lower. He’d warned her not to come. This part was going to devastate her.

“Mr. Paulos, if you’ll make your opening statement, please.”

Theo watched the burly-looking attorney take the floor. “Thank you, Your Honor. My client has been forced to respond to these totally false allegations without having been given adequate preparation time.”

“I’m aware of that. However, may I remind you this
is only a show-cause hearing to determine if this case warrants a full jury trial. Please go ahead.”

“Thank you.” He cleared his throat. “Athas Shipping Lines is one of Greece’s greatest resources. I don’t need to tell the court of Nikos Athas’s extraordinary talents as one of our Olympians. Their father filled one of the highest positions in our government.

“To think Nikos could perpetrate such crimes is beyond the imagination of this counsel and I dare say this country. I consider it a crime to waste this court’s time, Your Honor. If opposing counsel can produce one shred of evidence to the contrary, then let him speak.”

The judge nodded. “Mr. Georgeles? If you’ll approach the bench.”

Nestor patted Theo’s arm before getting to his feet. “If Your Honor will look at Exhibit A, I’ll ask the physician, Dr. Vlasius, who attended Mr. Pantheras in the E.R. at Salamis Hospital on the night of July 6 to explain. He’s on the board there now.”

“Step forward, Doctor, and be sworn in.”

Once that was accomplished, Nestor began. “Dr. Vlasius, would you tell us about these X-rays, please.”

“Certainly. These show the injuries to Mr. Theo Pantheras, the nineteen-year-old man brought in by his friends. When he was beaten up on his way home and left for dead, it revealed that the bones in his lower legs, arms and hands had been broken by a pipe. The type of weapon used has been corroborated by the police. His face was smashed in. He resided in the hospital six weeks while his bones healed and reconstructive surgery was done on his face and nose.”

A feminine cry came from across the aisle. Stella’s.

“Thank you, Dr. Vlasius. If you’d be seated, I’d like
to call on Damon Arabos, Theo’s closest friend who brought him in to the hospital.”

Again Theo could tell Stella was stunned to see him walk to the bench. He’d been Theo’s sidekick through high school. He was a tease who’d made everyone laugh.

As soon as he was sworn in, Nestor began. “Did you witness this attack on him?”

“Only at the end.”

“Did you recognize who did it?”

“There were five men bent over him. I got some of our friends and we started to attack them. They ran away and got in a van. One of our friends took down the license plate. The police traced it to a man who works at the docks for Athas Shipping Lines named Yanni Souvalis, but he suddenly didn’t show up for work anymore.”

“Thank you, Mr. Arabos. You may be seated. Now I’d like to call Alena Callas to the bench to be sworn in. She works at the telephone company in their records department and has gathered some evidence useful to this case which I’ve submitted under Exhibit B.”

This was the part Theo had been waiting for. It was the paper trails that would bring Nikos down.

“Mrs. Callas, would you tell the court the nature of Exhibit B.”

“Yes. These represent the phone logs of the dates between June 2 and July 6. Nine phone calls in all. They originated from the private phone of Mr. Nikos Athas. All calls were made to the Pantheras Taverna on Salamis Island.”

“Were they long phone calls?”

“Each one was different, but none of them were longer than forty-five seconds.”

“Thank you. You can be seated. I’d like to call Mr. Bion as my next witness.”

“I object, Your Honor!” Mr. Paulos blurted.

“Objection overruled. I’m here to listen to the evidence. Please make it short, Mr. Georgeles.”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Theo couldn’t see Nikos’s face. He was huddled behind the desk with his attorney.

“Mr. Bion? Please tell the court who you are.”

“I’m the battalion commander for the Paloukia Fire Department.”

“Were you witness to a fire at the Pantheras Taverna on the night of July 1?”

“Yes, sir. Of course, then I had just joined the department.”

“Tell us what you discovered at the fire?”

“It was an arson case. A chemical was used that the police traced to Athas Shipping Lines. Only a few companies use it.”

“So it could have come from another shipping line?”

“Not at that time, no.”

“Thank you. You can be seated. I’d now like to call Mr. Spiro Pantheras to the stand.”

Spiro winked at Theo on his way to the bench.

“Tell the court who you are, please.”

“I’m Spiro Pantheras, Theo’s older brother.”

“I understand you met with an accident on your motor scooter on the night of June 27 near the taverna.”

“That’s correct.”

“Can you tell us what happened.”

“I was on my way home from the store when I heard a car rev behind me. I moved to the right to get out of
the way, but it followed me and sideswiped me, knocking me off my scooter.”

“Did you see the car?”

“Only the tail end of it before it rounded the corner. It was the latest model black Ferrari with local license plates.”

“Were you hospitalized?”

“No, but because of the threatening phone calls to my parents at the
taverna
, I called the police to report it. You have a copy of the police case.”

“Did anything happen as a result?”

“No.”

“Thank you very much. You may step down.” Nestor turned to the judge. “Your Honor? If you’ll look at Exhibit C, I’ve provided a list of every new Ferrari sold within that twelve-month period in Athens. Two could be accounted for. One belonged to the deputy prime minister, the other to Nikos Athas. For my final witness today, I call Theo Pantheras to the stand.”

This was it, but Theo felt no joy having to expose her brother this way in front of her. After he was sworn in, Nestor said, “Mr. Pantheras, please tell the court in your own words the happenings during that month leading to your hospitalization.”

He took a deep breath and leveled his gaze on Stella. “I committed the crime of falling in love with Stella Athas when she was sixteen and I, eighteen. Her family didn’t approve of me and we both knew it, so we had to be creative how we could be together.

“I knew Nikos Athas didn’t like me, but I didn’t realize he’d go so far as to harass me and my family so I’d stay away from her. One night he followed me home
from church. On the way he offered me ten thousand dollars to get out of Stella’s life and stay out.

“I told him what he could do with his money and took off. Later that week we received threatening phone calls from him, then the
taverna
was set on fire. After Spiro’s accident I realized Nikos was serious. On the last phone call I received from him, he said that if I didn’t break up with Stella, he would injure my parents until I didn’t recognize them.

“I had to believe him, so I called Stella and told her we were getting married. I’d meet her at the church, but I was beaten up outside in the car park. It was clear Nikos wasn’t about to let the Pantheras family merge with his on any level, not even to letting me claim my rights as a father.

“After I got out of the hospital, I left for New York to begin carving out a career for myself. Since then I’ve returned to Greece and have been with Stella and my son Ari.”

Nestor smiled at Theo. “Thank you, Mr. Pantheras. You may step down.” Theo went back to his seat behind the desk. “Your Honor, I turn the time back over to Mr. Paulos.”

“Mr. Paulos?” the judge asked. “Do you wish to cross-examine?”

“Not at this time, Your Honor.”

“What can he say?” Nestor whispered to Theo. “There is no rebuttal to the case we just presented. His case has fallen apart.”

Theo agreed. Nikos had already hung himself.

“After hearing the proceedings of this case, I plan for this to go to a full jury trial which is set for September 13. Bail on Nikos Athas is set at ten million dollars. You will not be allowed to leave the country.”

Nikos exploded. “You can’t keep me here! I live in Switzerland!”

“One more outburst, Mr. Athas, and I’ll have the sergeant-at-arms restrain you. This session is dismissed until September 13 at 9:00 a.m.” He pounded his gavel and left the courtroom.

The family swarmed around Theo. This was a day they’d needed for closure. Everyone wept. When Theo eventually stood up to find Stella, he discovered she had gone. The emptiness in his heart threatened to swallow him whole. Charging her brother with attempted murder wasn’t something easy to forgive. He would treasure the memories of the last few weeks with her and Ari, but they might be all he’d ever have.

S
TELLA
left the courtroom and raced to the villa ahead of everyone. “Iola?” she cried out the second she entered the house.

“I’m here.” The housekeeper came running. “What’s wrong?”

“Wait right here.” She dashed up the stairs to get the letter Theo had sent her. When she came down again she said, “I’m going to show you something. I want you to think back very hard to the time when Theo didn’t come to the church for me.”

The older woman frowned. “I’ll never forget it as long as I live.”

No one would forget. “I want you to take a look at this envelope. Read everything on the front. The date is from six years ago.” She handed it to her.

Iola studied it for an overly long moment without lifting her eyes.

Pure revelation flowed through Stella. “You recognize it, don’t you.”

Still no response.

“Is that your handwriting at the bottom that says addressee unknown?”

She shook her head violently.

“Do you know whose it is? This is important, Iola. I have to know the truth.”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“Because I will lose my job.”

“What? That’s impossible! You’re a part of this family.” Stella reached out and hugged her. “This is your home. Who told you that?”

She kept her head bowed. “Please don’t make me tell you. I’m afraid.”

“I can see that.”

Stella put a hand over her own mouth, absolutely devastated to think Nikos had blackmailed her into keeping quiet about this. “Did more letters like this come to the house I don’t know about?”

“I don’t know,” she muttered. In the next breath she handed Stella the letter before running down the hall toward the back of the villa.

Stella slowly walked into the salon and waited for the rest of the family to arrive. She’d arranged for Ari to stay with Dax until she came for him.

In a minute she heard footsteps in the foyer. Stasio’s pained expression left nothing to the imagination as he entered the salon with Nikos, who’d gone somewhere mentally where she couldn’t reach him.

His year-round tan had turned a sickly white. He’d been Stella’s nemesis for years. Every truly unhappy moment in her life she could lay at his feet. Her own brother.

Poor Stasio. He’d been just as wounded by him, maybe more, because he was the big brother Nikos hated to love and loved to hate.

On impulse she reached for Nikos’s hand. “I have something important to tell you, Nikos. Despite what you’ve done, I know in my heart Theo doesn’t want to send you to prison. That wasn’t his focus.

“When he came back to Greece and discovered he had a son, all he wanted was to fight for him and ultimately for me.” Never had a woman had more evidence of a man’s love.

She squeezed Nikos’s hand to get a reaction from him. “Listen to me—I know he’ll drop all the charges against you provided you do something for me.”

He looked at her in torment.

“If he still wants me after this, we’re going to be married. All he would like is peace from my family. He would like to be able to come and go with me and Ari and be treated kindly and fairly. That’s all.”

Stasio’s eyes glistened with tears.

“But that’s not all I want. Once upon a time you were a sweet boy, but something happened when you grew up. You’ll have to promise me and Stasio that you’ll get psychiatric help. You’ve needed it for years. It’ll save your marriage. Renate really loves you, but she can’t do it alone.”

“It’s too late for me,” Nikos whispered in a tortured breath.

“No.” Stasio sat forward. “It’s never to late to change.”

Stella patted his hand. “Look at Theo. He’s back after six years ready to take up where we left off. He didn’t think it was too late.”

He shook his head. “I told the guys to rough him up, not kill him.”

“I believe you. So does he.”

“He has every right to hate my guts forever.”

“Theo’s not like that.” Her voice trembled. “He has so much goodness in him you can’t imagine.”

The sobs started coming. Suddenly he got up from the couch and left the room. They could hear his anguish all the way to his suite down the hall.

Stasio moved over to sit by her. He put his big arms around her and rocked her against him. “Stella…” She heard every ounce of pain and love in his heart. They’d been through it all together. “When you and Theo work everything out, I want to have a long talk with him. He’s a man like few others. No wonder no other guy ever measured up.”

“I love him so terribly.”

“I know. He’s a lucky man to be loved by you. Go to him and put him out of his misery. He deserves every bit of happiness you can find together.”

Since returning from court, Theo’s family had sequestered him above the taverna. The women got food ready while he sat at the dining room table with his father and brothers. They’d closed the taverna for the day. It was like a holiday with the kids milling around, but the last thing he felt like doing was celebrating.

He kept reliving the court scene in his mind. With each damaging piece of evidence, Stella seemed to have shrunken inside herself a little more. No matter how he went over it in his mind, there hadn’t been another way to do it.

If he’d called her on the phone after returning to Athens, and told her the truth right off, she would have hung up on him. There wouldn’t have been a discussion. He would never have been able to meet Ari.

“Theo?” Dymas poured him a little wine. “She’s going to forgive you.”

Spiro nodded. “Give it time. You said she’s always had to be careful around Nikos. When it sinks in and she realizes there wasn’t any other way for you to handle things, she’ll get in touch with you.”

He sat back in the chair with his arms crossed. “I’d like to believe you, but I saw anguish on her face today. She has loved her family a lot longer than she has loved me. You know what they say. Blood is thicker than water.” His gaze flicked to his family.

“Thank you all for being there for me today.”

“As if we’d have been anywhere else.” His father patted his arm. “You’ve suffered long enough. Today we saw justice done. I’m very proud of the great man you’ve become.”

For his father to tell Theo that was something. He’d never said those words to him before. “Thank you, Papa, but I don’t feel great. To destroy the woman I love in order to be with her and my son has brought me no joy.”

“Nikos Athas destroyed himself without anyone’s help, my boy.”

“It’s too bad the jury trial can’t be sooner so this can all be over with.”

“There isn’t going to be one, Spiro.” Theo shoved himself away from the table and got to his feet.

All three of them stared at him, waiting for an explanation.

“Tomorrow I’ll tell Nestor I’m dropping the charges.”

Dymas looked shocked. “After all you’ve done to get ready for it?”

“Yes. It’s over.”

“Nikos could still be dangerous.”

“I’ve thought about that, Dymas. Nevertheless, today’s court session is as far as I go. He’s been exposed. Enough damage was done for Stella to know the true reason for what happened.”

His father got to his feet and walked over to him. “How much does Ari know about any of this?”

“As far as I know, nothing. But today everything exploded. No doubt he’ll learn all about it and totally despise me.”

“No, Theo. You’ve won his love. He’ll figure it out. Like Spiro said, give this time.”

“You mean like another six years? Maybe then my son will be mature enough to acknowledge me again?” Theo was dying inside. “Papa? Will you tell Mama I couldn’t stay. I have to leave.”

He patted Theo’s shoulder. “I understand. Where are you going to go?”

“I don’t know. I need to be alone.”

“Do you want to take a drive with me?”

“No, thank you, Papa. I have to be on my own.” He felt like running until he dropped and the pain went away.

They walked to the top of the stairs. “I love you, Theo.”

“I love you, too, Papa.” He kissed his cheek before descending the steps leading to the restaurant below. He let himself out of the back of the
taverna
and locked the door before he started running in the direction of the beach.

Stella showered and changed into the white dress with the wide belt Theo seemed to like so much. Wherever he was, when she caught up to him she wanted to look her most beautiful for him.

After talking to Ari on the phone at Dax’s house, she found out he hadn’t heard from his father all day. It was
after four right now. This had to be the first time Theo hadn’t checked in with their son.

She grew even more apprehensive because they had their star-gazing class tonight. Theo could have gone anywhere after court. She wanted to believe he was with his family, but after what he’d lived through today, he was probably out of his mind in pain. Somehow she had to get through this and find him without alarming Ari.

Once she was ready, she said good-night to Stasio and slipped out the back door to her car. She’d told Ari to be waiting for her. When she eventually drove up to Dax’s house, he came flying out the front door and jumped in the car.

“Where’s Papa?”

She smothered the moan rising in her throat. “I think he’s at the taverna with his family. I thought we’d drive there for dinner before you guys leave for class.”

“He’ll be glad. Papa’s afraid you don’t like his family.”

Stella glanced at her son. “That’s not true. I like them very much.”

“He talks about you all the time and told me what you were like when he first met you. He said you were really shy. What does that mean?”

“That I didn’t speak up and kind of hung back.”

“Papa said that was his favorite thing about you. All the other girls…well, you know. They wanted to be with him, but he said that once he met you, that was it.”

She was certain there’d been other women while he’d been in New York. He was too attractive and had too much drive to live like a monk, but he’d come back for her. It proved that whatever had gone on in his past, it hadn’t kept him in the States. That was all that mattered to her.

“It’s nice to hear.”

“He wanted to know if you’d had boyfriends.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That there’d been some, but you never let any of them come up to the family room or sleep over. Papa was pretty happy to hear that.”

In spite of her fear that they wouldn’t be able to find him, she chuckled. “I’m afraid when I met him, I never really looked at another man again.”

“You love him like crazy, huh.”

Her throat practically closed up with emotion. “Yes. How can you tell?”

“Because you’re always smiling now.”

“So are you. Let’s go find him right now and surprise him.”

They’d crossed over to Salamis Island. The traffic was horrendous with tourists and people driving home from work.

Be there, Theo,
she cried. But when they came in sight of the taverna, she couldn’t see his car. That didn’t necessarily have to mean anything, but it still made her stomach clench.

She pulled up in front. Ari jumped right out. “I’ll get him, Mom.”

It was just as well he went inside alone. She didn’t feel up to facing his family, not after what they’d all been through this morning in court.

Stella’s brother had been the cause of all the pain their family had suffered. Nothing she could ever say or do would make up for what they’d had to endure. Whenever her mind remembered what the doctor had said in court about Theo’s injuries, her heart broke all over again.

When Ari came back out, she had to dash the moisture off her cheeks so he wouldn’t suspect anything was wrong.

“Grandpa said he was there earlier, but he left to go home.”

“Then, that’s where we’ll go. Do you know where his house is from here? I’ve never seen it.”

“Yeah. I’ll show you how to get there. Take that road over there and follow it to the coast road.”

Once they reached the other road, everything started to look familiar to her. With each kilometer she realized Ari was directing her toward a favorite area she hadn’t seen in six years.

Before long Ari told her to turn into the driveway around the next curve. A gasp of surprise escaped her lips to see a lovely white villa on the stretch of beach where Theo used to take her in the rowboat.

“This
is your father’s house?”

“Yeah. It’s so cool. It has a gym and an indoor pool. I can walk right out on the beach from my bedroom. We’ve set up the telescope on the porch and look at the stars. Dax wishes he lived here.”

“I’ll bet he does,” her voice trembled.

They both got out of the car and walked past the flowering shrubs to the front entrance. “Papa gave me a key. Come on.” He opened the door for them. She stepped inside a new, modern world of white with splashes of color on the walls and floors. So much light from the arched windows thrilled her to death.

“Papa?” he called out. “Mom and I are here! Where are you?” He raced around the house but couldn’t find him. “He’s probably gone for a walk. Let’s go find him.”

If he wasn’t here, Stella didn’t know what she would do. “That’s a great idea. I’ll take my shoes off.”

“Me, too.”

They left them inside the sliding doors off the family
room. She followed him outside. Steps led down from the deck to the sand. The evening air felt like velvet. Her eyes took in the ocean not thirty feet away.

The pristine beach was just as she remembered it from years ago. “Come on, Mom. This is the way Papa took me for a walk.”

She ran to catch up to him. “There aren’t any people around.”

“This is his private beach. He said that when he was growing up, their family lived like sardines in a can.” She laughed at the metaphor. “He decided that if he ever made enough money, he’d build a place where he could walk around and be by himself.”

Her eyes smarted. “Well he certainly accomplished that here.”

“Yeah. I love it. Our house in Athens is old and full of people all the time, too.”

Stella hadn’t ever thought about it before, but he was right. Rich or poor, both her family and Theo’s had been through a lot of togetherness.